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About this website:
The blue links are to articles, databases, transcripts, lists and photos by contributors with an interest in the genealogy and history of the Isle of Coll and a commitment to the free sharing of information. Contributions to these or to new categories are always welcome.

Detailed records of ancestors and descendants of Coll and Tiree families from early times to their expansion in Coll and Tiree and then in North America after the mass emigrations of the 1800s. The records include the McPhadens of Coll and Tiree and the Macleans of Tiree.

The Isle of Coll, situated north-east of Tiree and separated from it by the narrow Gunna Sound, is similar in size to Tiree but it is much more rugged, with numerous hills and a rocky coastline with occasional beaches. The island's population peaked at about 1,500 in the 1840s and today is less than 200. As was the case in in Tiree and the other Western Isles, many of its people were encouraged or coerced to emigrate in the 1840s and 1850s to mainland Britain or to far distant British colonies.

The early history of Coll was similar to that of Tiree: it was part of the Celtic Kingdom of Dalriada; then came under Viking control; and then under the control of the MacDonald Lords of the Isles who ceded both islands to their allies, the MacLeans. The central and principal part of the island was granted by King James II to John Garve (Iain Garbh), first laird of Coll and ancestor of MacLean of Coll. In 1674 the two extremities of the island were acquired by the Earl of Argyll, along with other MacLean of Duart lands in Tiree and Mull, but in the 1800s the Coll lands were sold to other proprietors and are no longer part of the Argyll Estate.